Hare Krishna
Following is an extract (Its bigger this time) from the lecture given by HH Indrayumna Swami Maharaj on 27th Nov,'1998 at Moscow (Russia).
[I got this transcription as "pdf" file from one devotee and while I was going through it, I really felt that Maharaj was speaking to me. Its such an amazing, mind-blowing, truly ISKCONite, and above all close to Srila Prabhupada's mood. Please grasp it much and praise the glories of, Srila Prabhupada created, ISKCON. Its our very great fortune to be a part of it. Hari Bol!]. Transcription:
...(Someone may ask) What about the mistakes ISKCON is making? That means the individuals within ISKCON (who are making such mistakes).
Well, the British sometimes say, "England, with all thy faults, I love thee." This is a mentality of the loyal Britishmen. ISKCON has mistakes, we're not denying that. Why? Because so many different types of people come to this movement.
1.There's devotees coming who are just finishing up their Krsna consciousness, it is their last birth.
2. There're devotees who're, you know, this will be their second-to-the-last birth.
3. There're devotees who're coming for the first time.
4. And there's even materialists who take temporary shelter of this movement.
5. And in some cases there's even demons posing as devotees. Prabhupäda said that in Caitanya-caritämrta, that demoniac people take shelter of this movement, pose themselves as devotees, and create so much chaos. But even the demons can become purified in Kali-yuga (chuckles).
So it means there's no surprise that there're problems in ISKCON because we have all different types of devotees. We've materialistic devotees, we have kanishtha-adhikaris, we have madhyama-adhikaris, and we also have uttama-adhikaris. So you have to expect that there's going to be problems. But that doesn't mean we should leave, because Prabhupäda said one time also, "Better to rectify than remove." He was talking about one temple president who wasn't acting properly. So the GBC wanted to throw him out. But Prabhupäda said, "Better than throw him away is to correct him."
So in the same way, better than leave ISKCON is to stay in ISKCON and help ISKCON correct its mistakes. But nowadays, devotees so easily... because of frustration, they just want to abandon Prabhupäda's ship. ISKCON is like in an infant stage, and an infant goes to many childhood diseases and childhood illnesses and problems. But you don't throw your baby away because he has the measles or the mumps. You correct the baby and make him healthy...
...So, we are members of ISKCON, we've been created by Srila Prabhupäda's mercy. We are born of Srila Prabhupäda's mercy, and we should remain loyal to his family. Besides that, Srila Prabhupäda himself left that organization (Gaudiya Math) because they were just too busy fighting. As Sivaräma Mahäräja said last night during his talk, "It was only Srila Prabhupäda who cared enough about us, to come to the West, undergo so many austerities and difficulties to establish Krsna consciousness, that we're here today."...
...I say, you can find everything in ISKCON...
...So therefore I've spent this last 1h 45 minutes with you, to give you a basic summary of everything. And I ask you never ever leave ISKCON. Don't criticize the GBC. ISKCON has its faults, GBC may have made mistakes. But by Prabhupäda's mercy, devotees in ISKCON, most of them, are sincere, and the GBC are certainly sincere. So we should try to work to resolve the problems, not leave. And why they are leaving? You know, these people are leaving, they're saying, "The fault actually lies with ISKCON." You know, most of time the fault lies with themselves, and they are just saying all these things to justify their own departures...
...Don't be disrespectful (to other organisations or other envious crowd), but if necessary, you have to speak up. Speak up. Defend ISKCON.
...I offer my obeisances to any of the Vaisnavas whom I may have offended by speaking today. But we have to take a strong stand to protect Prabhupäda's ISKCON.
JAY!
Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada Ki JAY!
HH Indrayumna Swami Maharaj Ki JAY!
International Society for Krsna Consciousness ki JAY!
Lets all spread the glories of Srila Prabhupada for creating such a nice "Spiritual Home" for us.
Please accept my MOST humble obeisances
To see the previous posts, click the following:
Part 1- http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/profiles/blogs/iskcon-should-do-this-that
Part 2- http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/profiles/blogs/our-iskconpart-2
More in store....
Comments
@ Shruti Mataji. Please acept my humble obeisances.
You put it right, when you says "It's very easy to become affected by other devotees unrelatable behavior...but it's more important to find our centre and go back to path shown by Srila Prabhupada"
As is the common saying: "Its easy to find faults than to appreciate them."
Who is at the fault then? The fault-finder himself. And one quality of Vaisnava is "appreciates the qualities of others".
Moreover, we should never forget that its because of Srila Prabhupada and his dear Movement that we are able to understand the importance/philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita, Prasadam, Deity, Preaching, Scriptures, Krsna-katha, Dham, Parikramas, Vaisnava Seva etc. Should not we be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL to Him? (Think of those pity situations of our post Krsna Conscious life...Huh!)
Hare Krishna
@ Amit Prabhu. Please accept my humble obeisances. Hare Krishna
There are two sides of seeing this problem of "Weirdness":-
1. Devotees performing their own duties and those actions may not be palatable for the newcomers. For instance, offering of lamps first to the senior devotees present and then to other devotees. The newcomers because of previous past experiences (post-ISKCON life) were never taught that the sacred things should firstly be offered to the seniors, they feel "ignored". And there are many other instances like this.
2. Devotees committing such "weirdness" due to lack of training or with some ulterior motives. Remember, devotees PRACTISE Krsna Consciousness and are fighting with their anarthas, so there are chances that they may not be developing all 26 qualities of a Vaisanav.
Moreover, we should always think that in today's time (Tech savy modern time, a Kaliyuga) very few have any interst in Spirituality and out of those very few, only fortunate takes shelter of Krsna. So, the devotees who have taken any interest in Krsna Consciousness ARE VERY FORTUNATE. We should develop the affection for them, serve them and not becoming an obstacle for them. Not to forget our own advancement in Krsna Consciosuness.
Also, its mentioned in the above blog, that ISKCON is full of different people from different walks of life as its an open platform. So because we are carrying our previous habits with us, it takes time to nullify it.
Hare Krishna
great words... but unfortuntely my mind is not in a position to accept this As It Is. Many times i see a very wiered behavior by temple inmates or congregation devotees among new people in Iskcon which hurts a lot. anyways.. i will try to apply the above mentioned things in my spiritual life...